[1sickzl1]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

goodluck ive heard about people not passing even with stock exhaust lol my buddy got a 23 1le out of state and hes having a hard time passing smog bone stock

I was cited for 27156 which is emissions related. California Vehicle Code section 27150.2.(a) prohibits BAR’s Referee contractor from performing an exhaust noise test on a vehicle unless the vehicles has been cited for violating Vehicle Code section 27150 or 27151 - which I was not. So it's going to be a visual check, ECU check, and a smog test. Car can be loud as an F1 fighter jet, and it does not matter in my case.

[kropscamaro16]

huh wow wild didnt know that well goodluck! ive been to the ref before its not fun lol i felt like a whore in church

[1sickzl1]

Originally Posted by kropscamaro16

huh wow wild didnt know that well goodluck! ive been to the ref before its not fun lol i felt like a whore in church

Thanks, I just want to be done with it and move on. It's always on the back of my mind and I worry driving it since you're technically not allowed to - if it's been state ref'd.

[kropscamaro16]

let me know what happens good luck man!

[JoeTX]

looks like he just wanted to give you a ticket, AKA he profiled your car and stopped you for no reason.

[1sickzl1]

UPDATE: I ended up passing. I'm going to list my experience down here-

I arrived at my appointment 5 minutes early as requested. The state refs are located at local community colleges (not all but there are quite a few spread out). Before you go to your in-person appointment there is a "virtual" appointment. Maybe I should start there. So basically once you're cited you'll get a call from the BAR to schedule your virtual appointment. They inform you that you will get a call from an unknown or blocked number on the date and time of your virtual appointment. If you miss this call you will be penalized by having your next appointment pushed back to 6 weeks I believe it was. Anyways, during the virtual appointment the tech over the phone requests that you provide him a picture of your engine bay, ticket, and a copy of your registration. They will email you directly while you're on the phone, you will email back with the photos. Once everything looks okay they will clear you and tell you to expect a call in a few days to schedule your in person appointment.

Now, back to the in person appointment. Once you arrive there will be 2 techs there waiting. They will pull your car up into their bay and pop the hood and inspect it thoroughly. They will pull up photos of the OEM engine bay as well as the OEM cat placement underneath the car. They will use a mirror and pop there head under the car to ensure all cats are in place as well as the O2 sensor placement. Then they go to the back of the car to inspect that there are mufflers and that they are not damaged in any way. They check your oil and coolant levels to make sure they are adequate as well. They will rev the car and look for black smoke coming out of the tailpipes. They will then perform an OBDII test to ensure you pass and all systems are a go. They will check to see if you are tuned as well.

Once you pass you pay $8.25 and they provide you with the signed emissions certification. This is the certification that you'll need to bring to your court date OR if your violation is in the system before then you can bring it along with your registration and ticket to your local traffic court clerk. You probably can do this online? Not sure. You will be able to clear it by paying a fine. How much is this? I have no idea, since I'm still not in the system and the clerk said the officer has up to 1 year to submit it officially. Therefore, I'll be checking the online court portal every week to see when I'm in there. If I'm not there the Friday before my court date I'll have to just appear before a judge and let him/her know that it has been handled.

I wanted to be as thorough as possible and explain everything I had knowledge of in order to help our dying car enthusiast community. I was clearly targeted, and yes it wasn't fair but life isn't fair. Oh well. If anyone has any questions feel free to post and I'll try my best to answer them.

[kropscamaro16]

yup thats pretty much how my visit went i had to go to golden west college in westminster at the time

[pbSS]

Originally Posted by 1sickzl1

UPDATE: I ended up passing. I'm going to list my experience down here-

I arrived at my appointment 5 minutes early as requested. The state refs are located at local community colleges (not all but there are quite a few spread out). Before you go to your in-person appointment there is a "virtual" appointment. Maybe I should start there. So basically once you're cited you'll get a call from the BAR to schedule your virtual appointment. They inform you that you will get a call from an unknown or blocked number on the date and time of your virtual appointment. If you miss this call you will be penalized by having your next appointment pushed back to 6 weeks I believe it was. Anyways, during the virtual appointment the tech over the phone requests that you provide him a picture of your engine bay, ticket, and a copy of your registration. They will email you directly while you're on the phone, you will email back with the photos. Once everything looks okay they will clear you and tell you to expect a call in a few days to schedule your in person appointment.

Now, back to the in person appointment. Once you arrive there will be 2 techs there waiting. They will pull your car up into their bay and pop the hood and inspect it thoroughly. They will pull up photos of the OEM engine bay as well as the OEM cat placement underneath the car. They will use a mirror and pop there head under the car to ensure all cats are in place as well as the O2 sensor placement. Then they go to the back of the car to inspect that there are mufflers and that they are not damaged in any way. They check your oil and coolant levels to make sure they are adequate as well. They will rev the car and look for black smoke coming out of the tailpipes. They will then perform an OBDII test to ensure you pass and all systems are a go. They will check to see if you are tuned as well.

Once you pass you pay $8.25 and they provide you with the signed emissions certification. This is the certification that you'll need to bring to your court date OR if your violation is in the system before then you can bring it along with your registration and ticket to your local traffic court clerk. You probably can do this online? Not sure. You will be able to clear it by paying a fine. How much is this? I have no idea, since I'm still not in the system and the clerk said the officer has up to 1 year to submit it officially. Therefore, I'll be checking the online court portal every week to see when I'm in there. If I'm not there the Friday before my court date I'll have to just appear before a judge and let him/her know that it has been handled.

I wanted to be as thorough as possible and explain everything I had knowledge of in order to help our dying car enthusiast community. I was clearly targeted, and yes it wasn't fair but life isn't fair. Oh well. If anyone has any questions feel free to post and I'll try my best to answer them.

Thanks for the detailed summary. For the OBDII test, do you know if they just look for any emissions related codes or do they look to see if there's a tune? Would an e85 setup pass the sniffer?

Did they measure the SPL of the exhaust?

Is paying bail/fee/guilty an option to bypass the state ref?

[Lethal6.2LE]

Did they say anything about your AWE exhaust when they looked under the backside?

[1sickzl1]

Originally Posted by pbSS

Thanks for the detailed summary. For the OBDII test, do you know if they just look for any emissions related codes or do they look to see if there's a tune? Would an e85 setup pass the sniffer?

Did they measure the SPL of the exhaust?

Is paying bail/fee/guilty an option to bypass the state ref?

No problem, I mentioned that they will look for a tune. So no if you have an E85 tune you will not pass.

I wasn't cited for exhaust noise, see earlier post.

Yes it is, but you will have a note on your vehicle that the next smog tech will see that you just paid the fee resulting in failing your emissions test until you take care of it. I think this is delaying the inevitable.

[1sickzl1]

Originally Posted by Lethal6.2LE

Did they say anything about your AWE exhaust when they looked under the backside?

Wasn't ticketed for that, see earlier post.

[m6-lt1]

What a garbage and annoying process. Do they not realize some people have jobs and can’t answer that call the op mentioned? I’m sure bone stock sports cars get cited all the time there. If I had the money and lived in California, I’d sue to the police department/ state for wasting my time if they cited my bone stock car strictly for the principal of it.

[1sickzl1]

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

What a garbage and annoying process. Do they not realize some people have jobs and can’t answer that call the op mentioned? I’m sure bone stock sports cars get cited all the time there. If I had the money and lived in California, I’d sue to the police department/ state for wasting my time if they cited my bone stock car strictly for the principal of it.

I'm blessed to have my own business so I could take the call whenever but I agree there is some sort of prejudice and targeting of sports cars in the Golden State. That being said I have this one documented and if and when this happens again I will be seeking legal council.

[JoeTX]

What kind of ridicules process is this LOL. missing a call and they push you back 6 weeks and then the copy might post the ticket and might not so you have to go to court to waste your time.
Another reason to not go to Cali anytime soon.